Three Years Later,

Combat Suit Test Facility.

Three years had passed since the children were injected with the Rebirth virus. The virus's effects proved to be a resounding success, exponentially increasing the children’s physiological and cognitive abilities. Owing to the success, the scientists, after a year passed, swiftly moved into Phase 2, designing a range of metallic armors for the children to operate.

The new machines needed a safe, testing location without fear of damaging the surroundings. This led to building a new, stadium shaped facility with a flat, round surface area double the size of a regular football field. The grounds were further rigged such that obstacles slid out of the land, forming whatever shapes they wanted. Furthermore, looking at the field through special goggles or glasses allowed them to simulate entire ecosystems for potential matches.

It took just over a year to complete the building. The children, wearing their new humanoid suits, fought in an open free-for-all on the building’s launch day. It had to be said that of all the children, Henri showed the most remarkable improvement. Having been released from the shackles of a bad heart by the virus, her superior physique began to shine through, thoroughly trumping over the rest of the children—save one.

The ground was currently devoid of obstacles, with only two metallic, humanoid robots battling it out at the center. The two slightly bulky robots traded blow for blow, savagely tearing out bolts and fluid from each other without care for the consequences. On the ground around the robots were the remains of what used to be external weapon systems, forcing the two into the current terrible melee.

Eventually, one of the robots seized an opportunity when its opponent’s arm locked as a result of a damaged joint. It drove a sharp uppercut. Its fist tore through the opponent’s jaw and burst out its skull. The robot sharply retreated as the resulting sparks ignited some liquid.

Boom!

‎ The robot came to a halt as the opponent’s head exploded, sending dangerous shrapnel flying. Luckily, the robot had given enough distance such that even those that managed to reach it could only bounce off its tough exterior.

The opposite robot finally dropped to the ground, having lost its vital functions, allowing the victorious one to relax.

Pshh~

The front of the robot suddenly folded backward, such that its components slid into its back and exposed its interior, revealing a young man. The teenager stepped out of the robot and swallowed a deep mouthful of air. He wiped the sweat off his forehead, then ran his hand through his short silver hair.

Taiga, who had just enjoyed the first of his rapid growth spurts, was now 145cm tall, with a lean, muscular physique that shone through the tight spandex they were forced to wear during training. A pair of sharp yellow eyes swiveled to the left to see an approaching group of scientists.

Taiga frowned a little as he spotted a familiar snake-eyed asshole leading the group. Over the past years, if there was one person he did not want to meet the most, it would be this snake-eyed monster. The man was never satisfied, always looking to push tests past reasonable boundaries, often putting the children’s lives at risk.

Luckily, no one had died yet. But honestly, it was beginning to feel like it was only a matter of time.

The only reason Taiga had not exploded was that with Henri’s current strength, he had nothing to fear.

“Saika-sensei,” Taiga curtly greeted once the man was within arm’s reach.

“Taiga-kun,” Saika reciprocated, though with a fanatic grin attacked. The snake-eyes gleamed with excited sharpness as he glanced at the fallen robot. “Finally, you’ve proven you can control more than one suit at the same time. To be able to split your attention between two bodies… How did it feel?”

“Disconcerting at first,” Taiga honestly replied. There was nothing to gain from being sassy or lying to this demon. “It took some getting used to, but I think I got the hang of it.”

The situation was like this: Amongst the children, while Henri excelled in physique, Taiga’s cognitive abilities somehow surpassed all the other children combined, to the extent it could rival some computers. This truth only came to light after some coincidental tests, and since then, Saika had been pushing the envelope, trying to see the child's limit. All this led to the current experiment.

All the combat suits were linked through a centralized system so that they were easier to track, communicate with, and shutdown should the situation arise.

Taiga, through his suit, hacked into another robot through the central system and began battling it. Splitting his mind into two to fight from both viewpoints had been taxing at first. Still, his mind surprisingly adapted quickly, allowing him to orchestrate a desperate battle with relative ease. He even had a feeling two suits were not his limit. If he exerted himself, he might even be able to go as high as five suits.

“Haha! That’s good! Great!” Saika praised, a sickening grin on his face. “Imagine the war potential if a soldier could control more than one suit at a time!” Suddenly his mood crashed, a dark gleam in his eyes. “If only the other trash could be like you.”

“Sorry?” Because the last sentence was muttered, Taiga failed to hear it, but Saika was not in the mood to repeat himself.

Saika’s eyes lit up, his body jolting straight as if shot by a bolt of lightning. “Of course! Why can’t they be like him?” Because the Rebirth Virus was a one-time use item, he had felt the children’s cognitive improvement had come to a screeching halt. However, who said that had to be the case? If the virus could not work, there were other ways to improve their abilities. Hehe, why have one superkid when you could have forty? Saika swiftly ordered the remaining scientists to finish up before rushing back to his office. He had some important calls to make.

Taiga, meanwhile, waited until the scientists finished their examinations. Only after ensuring there was no damage to his brain from the exercise did the scientists permit him to rejoin the rest of the children.

Taiga happily abandoned the drones to their calculations. He jogged to the changing room, where he took a quick shower before changing into a loose, white, wooly, long-sleeved shirt, a pair of slacks, and comfortable running shoes.

Taiga particularly loved the shirt because of the numerous holes in it… Okay, he had no idea why anyone would like these shirts, but Henri loved it. Said it made him look like a bad boy , whatever the hell that meant. Regardless of its meaning, that sentence was more than enough for Taiga. More than half his wardrobe had clothes with similar styles.

Taiga lazily made his way through the compound, hands in pockets as he contemplated his current situation. So far, the scientists—aside from Saika, the creep—seemed to be satisfied with the children’s progression, pleased even. As a result, the dangerous experiments had fallen to an all-time low over the past year. In fact, if it were not for the odd combat simulation, this life was much better compared to the previous one.

The corner of the young man’s lips rose slightly. If he had still been in Hadet, he would never have met Henri. Or maybe if by chance he had, he would never have appreciated her the way he did now. There was no guarantee he would’ve lived up to fifteen. Taiga could not believe it, but he was secretly glad the company bought him all those years ago. He would have to find some time to thank that son-of-a-bitch Akari one of these days.

Taiga took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air as the cold evening breeze ruffled his hair. Ah, life was so good, Taiga silently mused as he lightly increased his gait. Maybe it was because no one was around to judge him, but he soon found himself lightly whistling to a track Henri loved to play.

Taiga soon came to a stop just before a large clearing where several small rings had been set up with other equipment for testing the combat suits’ capabilities. Taiga looked from his watch to the robots battling in the rings. Almost like clockwork, they all came to a sudden halt, simultaneously freezing in their actions. Taiga’s smile bloomed even brighter as one of the combat suits opened up, allowing a heavenly beauty to descend upon the mortal earth.

No sooner had her dainty feet touch the earth did she blast off with a speed that would leave the Bolts of the world gaping. The golden-haired beauty all but barreled into Taiga at Mach speed. Luckily, Taiga was already used to her crazy approach and successfully braced himself for impact. Although Taiga had the wind knocked out of him, his right hand snaked around the assailant’s waist, and with a light pull and a quick pivot, he swung her around, killing off the rest of her momentum.

Taiga’s grin was as bright as a lighthouse as he gazed into Henri’s mischievous, twinkling blue eyes. Like a fisherman out at sea, he found solace in those calming waters. He pulled her close, burying his head in the softness of her golden locks. Only after a full three seconds had passed did he pull back. With a sly chuckle, he teased her, “Miss me?”

Henri wrapped her arms around his neck as she gazed lovingly into those blazing suns, enjoying the warmth from their endless love. “What do you think?” She gave a snarky reply. Without giving Taiga a chance to reply, she pulled down on his neck and kissed him.

“Aiya, will the two of you give us single guys a break,” a familiar voice teased, forcing Henri to reluctantly pull away and glare at him. “Woah, Woah,” Ford laughed with his hands in the air. “You already whooped my ass during training. Not looking for another serving.”

Like Taiga, Ford had also grown a lot in the past three years. Probably as a result of the virus, he had a tough body that would not lose to that of young adults.

“Leave them alone, Ford. Everyone knows you can’t get in the middle of the star couple,” Kugo laughed as he approached, his right arm slung over Sahi’s shoulders. The years had been kind to the two of them. Kugo was the absolute strongest amongst the guys, standing at over 180cm and sporting a muscular frame that would leave many body-builders ashamed. He was known for the massive combat suit tailor-made for him. Besides Henri, no one else could operate the bulking suit, but she preferred the slicker frames, so he was indeed the most intimidating amongst the group.

Sahi, by his side, was still as competitive as ever, even more so now that she had grown into a beautiful woman second only to Henri on the campus. She always challenged Henri to battles every day, and even though she repeatedly lost, she held no grudges. All she had was an intense desire to be number one. She had long since abandoned her juvenile attitude of going against Henri whenever she had a chance. On the contrary, she was Henri’s closest friend on the campus over the past three years. “Hehe, Ford’s just venting because Shi-shi rejected him today.”

Ford suddenly shivered, his eyes widening with shock as he stared at Sahi. “How do you even know that?”

“He-he,” Sahi chuckled. “I saw you lead Shi-chan to the back of the obstacle course. Figured something good was going down, so I turned on my suit’s receptors.”

Ford paled, his hands dropping listlessly to his sides.

“Pfft…HAHAHAHA!”

Four pairs of eyes turned in shock to the person overcome by so much laughter that he visibly trembled.

Why wouldn’t they be shocked? The person was Taiga!? Even if he had mellowed out over the past three years, even turning into a lovesick puppy, he had never laughed out loud. Much less, in such a manner that tears were coming out of his eyes.

Even Taiga was not exactly sure why he was laughing so much. All he knew was that at the moment, he was the happiest he had ever been in his life. He wasn’t killing anymore, held the love of his life in his arms, and had friends he could trust.

Even better, the painful experiments had ended. With their current abilities, the children were assured of great futures. How could he not then laugh? How could he not be happy?

Taiga was filled with anticipation towards the future of him and his friends.

Unfortunately, he had no idea that a phone call that would crush that future was currently taking place.

Inside the domed structure, Saika frowned as he screamed at someone on the phone, his voice carrying a hint of impatience, excitement, and frustration. “What do you mean he’s dead!?” A flurry of apologies and explanations filtered through, but Saika did not give a damn! “What about the programs? Were they completed?”

“Yes, sir, but we cannot locate the prototypes. There is speculation he already uploaded them to prevent tampering on our end.”

Saika frown deepened. Damn, they had lost one of the best minds in the field of Artificial Intelligence. This was not a small loss to the company, especially at this critical juncture. Suspicions arising in his heart, he questioned, “How did he die?” A swift report later, Saika shook his head with disgust. To think a great mind would be gone like that. This was why he did not believe in families. In the end, they were only a burden on great minds like himself.

Saika rubbed his face with a sigh. There was no need to waste time mulling over maggot food. He turned his attention back to the project, “Transfer the completed programs.”

“How many, sir?”

“All of them.”

“I cannot do that, sir. Only one-hundred programs were completed. H.Q. still needs some to study. Also, ‘Genesis’ has already been transferred to Tokyo on Mr. Shouyou’s orders.”

Saika’s brow shot up. Genesis was rumored to be the only A.I. program capable of creating other A.I’s like itself. If that was the case, he could understand why the higher-ups had immediately seized it. The news did not hurt him much, though.

While it would be nice to have Genesis in his hands, it was not what he needed right now. “Fine. We have sixty-three test subjects here. Send me sixty-three A.I. programs. We are moving into the final phase.”

“Sixty-three A.I. programs approved. They will be delivered at 2300 hours.”

“Good.” With a snort, Saika cut the call. He couldn’t help but be pleased with the quality of service. He had placed an order for something as sensitive as A.I. programs, and he could expect them as soon as nightfall.

How many other companies could boast such efficiency?

Saika sunk into his chair, his lips slowly curving upwards as he envisioned the crazy experiment he was about to perform. ‘ Hehehe. Those fogeys think I'm going to use the A.I’s in the suits, don’t they? Wait till I leave their mouths gaping.’

Saika played through all the possible scenarios in his mind. All the scientists here were on his side, so he did not need to fear backlash from them. If there were one obstacle to his plan, then it would be the insufferable Akari. However, after proving him wrong three years ago, Akari kept to himself as long as Saika did not go overboard in the children's treatment.

As long as Saika did not alarm him, Akari should not be able to interfere.

Saika revealed a sinister grin, calculating the profits he would make from this venture.

Two weeks passed since that phone call, and life went on as usual for Taiga. He would wake up in the morning with Henri in his arms. After moments of watching her sleep, he would reluctantly wake her, after which they would quickly have their baths. Taiga would walk her to her training grounds before leaving for his own.

Only on rare days would they train together. However, they did not mind.

After training, Taiga would pick up Henri, and then, together with the rest of the crew, they would go for a bite, watch a movie or play in the fields. When the sun dipped, the couple would return to their dorms for a quick shower, after which they would have an in-depth discussion on what they learned during the day and what they could do to improve.

At 10 PM, the children would disband to their rooms. Taiga and Henri were one of the few who still shared a room even at their age. It was partly because Taiga could not sleep alone, but really because they were hormonal teenagers who could not get enough of each other.

Surprisingly though they had shared a bed for three years, they had not crossed the line. Even though none of the other teenagers believed it, Taiga had indeed not made a move. In fact, he had pretended not to notice the signals Henri sent him.

Who knew why he hesitated so much?

Some part of Taiga still couldn’t believe his luck and felt that he would wake up to find out he had dreamed all this up if he crossed that line.

Another part of him was afraid of change.

All Taiga knew about relationships was what he had exposed to in Hadet. In that land, love did not exist. Even worse, sex was just a tool to cure the depression of another day. He’d assassinated his fair share of fools during their sexual encounters. Most of them bore the same animalistic drive in their eyes during the act but almost always held an emptiness afterward like they had just come down from a drug.

Taiga was afraid he would turn out the same way, so he never acted on his impulses. It was better their love remained pure. That way, he could peacefully rest in her arms every night. He never wanted to feel that emptiness those men had had in their eyes, nor did he want Henri to ever look at him with the bored indifference and disdain those women hid in the peripherals of their vision.

If Taiga had explained how he felt to Henri, she would have laughed him off and explained the difference between what they had and the hopelessness of those in Hadet. Not counting the prostitutes that Taiga must have observed, most of the men and women in Hadet were only hoping to see the next day. They certainly did not have space for love and only engaged in sex to fulfill their primal urges.

It was no wonder they were empty afterward.

Unfortunately, despite the rapid progress Taiga had made over the years, he was still fundamentally a loner at heart. Although he answered when asked if something was bothering him, it was challenging for him to take the initiative to express his heart, especially in cases this personal.

Henri, of course, did not know any of this. She only felt that Taiga was not ready to take that next step. As far as Henri was concerned, she would wait until he was ready. After all, just like Taiga, she too enjoyed the purity of their relationship. Her greatest joy was undoubtedly snuggling up against his chest, taking solace in the strong arm wrapped protectively around her.

Unfortunately, such peaceful days wouldn’t last.

Something changed on the 3 rd of August 2036. On that fateful day, Taiga and Henri woke up as usual. Following their routine, they prepared themselves and left the room. Oddly, however, outside their door stood two security guards.

Taiga froze, a frown etched on his forehead. Over the past three years, he had made it a point to memorize all the guards' features. Even though they all wore facemasks and helmets that left only their eyes visible, each one had distinct shapes, postures, and habits, making it too easy to distinguish between them.

Of course, this was from Taiga’s perspective. These men were trained professionals. Anyone else would find it hard-pressed to differentiate between them. What made Taiga uncomfortable was the fact that he did not recognize these two men, meaning they were new to the compound.

But why would two new guards be standing at their door?

All the thoughts buzzed within Taiga’s brain within the blink of an eye. On the outside, it looked like he had only closed the door, noticed the guards, and immediately asked, “What’s going on?”

“Nothing major,” the guard on the left replied. “Taiga will be coming with us. There’s a new program scheduled for him. We were tasked with showing him the way.”

Feeling something amiss, Henri held onto Taiga’s arm. Her gaze turned cold as she glared at the guards. “When will he be back?”

“He’ll be back at the usual time, I promise,” the guard replied. “We’re only here ‘cause the location’s different from usual. No need to be scared.” With a chuckle, he added, “We’ll return your boyfriend in one piece.”

The guard’s amicable nature helped soothe some of Henri’s nerves, and her grip on Taiga’s arm loosened. She turned to Taiga, brows slightly furrowed. “Be careful, okay?”

Taiga lovingly patted her hand with a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. Probably got some new experiment they want to test out. Don’t think they’ll go too far with Akari around.”

Taiga did have a point. Although Akari’s overall influence had reduced over the past years, he was the only reason Saika’s experiments did not go too far. If he hadn’t been around, only fate knows how many children would’ve still been alive.

Henri nodded, a cheerful smile blooming on her lips. She tiptoed and lightly kissed Taiga, evidently not ashamed by the guards’ presence. “I’ll be waiting.” With another swift kiss, she quickly scampered down the hall.

Taiga grinned as he watched her leave. No sooner had she rounded the corner did the smile immediately vanish. His gaze straightened, his posture straight and taut, like a fully drawn bowstring. He turned to the guards, his tone cold, “Lead the way.”

The guards shivered slightly. The change had just been too abrupt. One second, he was a goofy teenager. The next, he was suppressing them with bloodlust comparable to that of their veteran superiors. Luckily, both men had suffered similar bloodlust on numerous occasions, so they were quickly able to get over the shock. “Follow.”

Hands in pockets, Taiga followed their lead. They exited the building to a waiting vehicle. This was incredibly strange since Taiga was famous for his insistence on walking everywhere on the campus. He seldom used the on-site transportation. Still, although he found it a little odd, it was not the first time he’d been picked up. It seemed the experiment was at one of the buildings at the outer fringes of the compound.

Taiga took a seat at the back, his brain rapidly calculating the vehicle's speed and the time till each turn. Cross-referencing those against the mental map he had of the entire compound, he could easily keep track of their current position. Indeed, as expected, they were heading to the outer fringes of the compound. Taiga was about to relax his guard when something incredibly strange happened.

The driver made a turn.

At first, this turn seemed harmless, but a quick playback of their route revealed the ugly truth that they had made three consecutive left turns of varying lengths. What’s worse, they could have entered that street much earlier, but they had taken such a roundabout route for whatever reason.

Taiga sat straight up. Although only twenty minutes had passed, he was all too familiar with time-wasting tactics. He was just about to complain when the vehicle as if predicting his mood, came to a stop.

Taiga got off the car then inspected the building. It was surprisingly a bungalow, easily the smallest building he had seen on the entire campus. It was weird to see a lone house this far out in the fringes. A quick look to the left and right, and it was apparent there were no other buildings in the vicinity, the earth still rife with nature’s grass. If it were not for the asphalt, he would have wondered if he was still in civilization.

Taiga briefly took stock of his surroundings before following the guards to the building after they parked the car. Taiga frowned, involuntarily clucking his tongue as he spotted a familiar middle-aged scientist at the door, whose brows were tightly locked as she glared at him. “Took you long enough,” she rebuked with a snort. “Get in.”

Taiga ignored her harsh tone. Although he never bothered to get her name, he knew she was one of Saika’s people. It seemed this test might peel off a layer of skin. He brushed past the enraged woman into the building.

Taiga paused at the doorway, a deep frown on his face as he inspected the house. The lobby/living room was empty save for a chair and desk with a monitor and stationaries.

Taiga sat down and picked up a pair of headphones hanging on the monitor. He was already familiar with this particular experiment. Although he could not understand why they needed to go all the way out here just for this, he did not complain. He wore the headphones, grabbed a pen and notepad then switched on the monitor.

Immediately, a cacophony of disorganized noise burst out the eardrums as thousands of images flitted across the screen at a rate of over ten images per second. Taiga’s task was to continually jot down everything that came up on the screen while also making sure to write down any real word or sound that occasionally popped up amidst all the noise.

This was an unreasonable task that required him to multitask on a scale impossible for a regular human. He had to listen to every sound actively while ensuring he committed every image on the screen to memory. At the same time, he had to write fast enough to keep up with all this.

If this task were given to any human, they would spit, curse, and beat up the test-giver. However, due to the Rebirth virus, Taiga quickly filled page after page of the notepad, his fingers moving so fast they left afterimages.

Taiga continued with the task for over an hour, but it slowly got more difficult as time passed. The images got more complex, with more flitting passed the screen per second. Taiga’s head began to hurt when over fifty images flitted passed in a second. By this point, he had given up on writing. He was now challenging how many of these images his brain could process at a go. His record stood at sixty-four, but judging by how things were going, it could probably get better.

It was at this point that something pricked his ears.

One of the perks of having advanced brain functions was the provision of heightened senses. Taiga had downplayed the extent of his abilities during tests to deceive the scientists into a false sense of security.

Just like now.

The guards discussing with the scientist had no clue that Taiga could hear their entire conversation over the headphones' noise.

“Poor kid,” one of the guards lamented as he looked over to Taiga, whose gaze was adamantly fixed onto the screen, neck turning red from the heavy strain. “He has no clue his friends might be fighting for their lives right now.”

“Hmph, what do you know,” the middle-aged woman scolded. “Saika-sensei never fails. He made all the necessary arrangements before commencing the operation.”

“How did he manage to convince Akari-san?” The guard asked. “I heard he swore never to let the children do anything that would endanger their lives.”

“Who cares about that pussy!?” the scientist spat. “Hehehe, he went on a trip to the mainland yesterday. He can’t stop the operation if he isn’t here.”

The guard shivered, hesitation in his eyes. “Won’t there be trouble when he returns?”

The scientist sneered. “Saika-sensei is the most brilliant mind the organization has. After this operation succeeds, Akari will be lucky to keep his job, let alone have the time to cause trouble.”

“It’s a pity about the kids,” the second guard muttered under his breath. “Heard this operation will have a thirty percent failure rate.”

Taiga’s brow abruptly jumped, but luckily, the others failed to notice this little detail. Taiga lightly slumped on the chair, his right hand wrapping around one of the chair’s legs.

“Hmph,” the scientist snorted. “Those who fail are expendable.”

“Good, good, good. Expendable was it?”

The scientist snapped towards Taiga but was only met with a chair smashing against her face. Even as she tumbled, her eyes went wide as Taiga seemed to appear before her in a flash. Before she could react, a massive fist drove into her face. Her skull cracked wide open, sending blood and brain matter splattering against the stunned guards.

Despite their shock, both men reacted swiftly. Their weapons swung at the ready, safety released in a matter of moments. Alas, these moments were one too many for the poor souls. Their fingers simultaneously froze against the triggers as a thin red line appeared on their necks.

Their assailant did not bother looking at his handiwork. He burst out of the house as their bodies crumpled to the floor.

Taiga did not bother with the consequences of his actions in the event he was overthinking the situation. He only had a single thing in mind. Henri was in danger! He had to get to her on time!

Luckily, the car was still parked outside. Although Taiga had never personally driven one, he’d watched the guards on several occasions.

Taiga rushed into the car and grabbed the keys from the overhead mirrors. One second later, the car tore down the road fast enough to leave professional racers uncomfortable. Taiga made a sharp turn, somewhat regretting the impulse that led him to slaughter the guards and scientist. He should have kept at least one to confirm Henri’s location.

However, upon further consideration, Taiga was certain the operation would be at the usual building. Ever since they arrived in this place, whenever there was a need for a massive operation, they would undergo the procedure simultaneously in the same lab. Taiga saw no reason for this operation to be any different.

With that in mind, he mapped out the route to the dome-like building then increased his speed even further.

Roughly ten minutes later, Taiga pulled up about 300m from the structure at the parking lot of another building. He got down from the car and made the rest of the way on foot, lithely dodging his way through sets of patrols.

Taig forced his rapidly beating heart to still, slowly withdrawing his presence. Signs of Hadet’s Reaper began to resurface as he became like a ghost, silently weaving his way through the guards till he reached the target building.

Luckily, security was not at the top of the list when the architects designed the building, so there were quite a few infiltration options.

Taiga decided on an exposed pipeline on the building wall. He calculated the patrol routes, then when the window of opportunity was wide enough, he dashed to the side of the building. Taiga stomped hard, scaling over five meters in a single leap. He grabbed the pipe, quickly geckoing his way up the wall to an open window on the fourth floor. He slunk inside, relieved to find out there was no one in the office.

Taiga quickly left the office then made his way towards the operation room on the sixth floor. To reduce the risk of discovery, he used the emergency stairwell in place of the elevator. On the sixth floor, he rushed to the operation room but was forced to stop in his tracks at the sight of four fully armed guards at the door.

What’s worse, the door seemed to be the type that would only open with authorization from the control room. Taiga debated internally, then finally decided to make his way to the control room first.

Surprisingly, the control room only had two guards, and the door was not security-locked, probably due to the number of people who enter and exit daily. Taiga’s eyes narrowed as he pulled out a broken piece of wood. This was the leg of the chair from the house. His muscles bulged as he flung the wood.

The missile tore through the first guard’s throat and shattered against the wall behind, leaving a large gaping hole in its wake. The second barely had time to register his shock when Taiga burst around the corner. The guard only managed to let out an enraged, frightened, “You!” before a fist rammed into his throat and tore it out.

Blood splattered onto Taiga, dyeing the enraged teenager red. A pair of burning suns peaked through the bloodied mask, already moving on to the next objective. He looked into the control room, where a group of scientists stared at him in shock.

Taiga scanned the room, his brows furrowing in a deep frown when he realized Saika was not there.

Blood dripping from his bloodied arms, Taiga stepped into the room and marched to the raised platform at the center where a middle-aged man stood in place of Saika. Eyes blazing with naked rage, he grabbed the scientist by the collar and bellowed, “Where is she!? What did you bastards do!?”

“T-Taiga…” the man stammered, fear evident in his shaking limbs. “How! You shouldn’t be here!”

“Don’t waste my time with nonsense speculation,” Taiga seethed. “Show me! What the hell did you people do to her!?

The scientist glanced to his left and nodded to another scientist on a workstation. Accepting the signal, the second scientist inputted a series of commands.

Moments later, holographic screens lit up in front of Syèl.

Crack!

Enraged by the images on the screen, Taiga’s grip involuntarily tightened. A muffled snap rang out in the room. Taiga’s grip relaxed, and the lifeless body dropped to the floor, eyes still wide with disbelief. Never would he have thought that he would lose his life at this critical juncture where a decade’s worth of work was about to come into fruition.

Taiga ignored the eyes filled with unwillingness as he glared at the scientist who had brought up the video. “Where the hell are they!?”

“C-Combat Suit Testing Site,” the scientist immediately replied, eager to be as far away from this monster as possible. “Saika-sensei wanted to test their improvements immediately.”

“If anything has happened to her…” Taiga growled. Without waiting for their reaction, he turned around and quickly escaped from the building. He was well aware of the fact they called security once he entered. Any later and he would have been forced into a fight. Although Taiga was confident in his abilities, he had a bad feeling about what was going down and did not want to waste any time getting to Henri.

Taiga rushed through the compound, replaying the disturbing images he had just watched.

Apparently, the scientists had gotten hold of an A.I. technology and planned to use them to enhance the other children’s abilities. This alone would have been fine, but Saika was confident that as a result of the Rebirth Virus, the A.I. chips would perform much better if connected directly to the children’s brains rather than using the suits as a medium as H.Q. had already planned.

This, of course, led to another dangerous surgery with much higher stakes. Connecting the chips to the children required once again cutting open their heads for a complicated operation in which one wrong move would lead to death or, even worse, severe, irredeemable brain damage.

The operation had gone without a sitch, but Taiga’s heart rate accelerated when he watched the children wake up after the experiment. He didn’t know why, but he suddenly felt a sense of impending crisis.

Due to his fear, Taiga abandoned all thoughts of stealth and instead sped towards the new arena made for the suits.

Taiga’s brazen movement attracted a lot of attention, forcing him to dispatch many guards he encountered on the route. Since he had long since abandoned any thought of taking it slow, he pushed his brain’s processing speed to the maximum, such that everything around him seemed to move slowly yet disappear in the blink of an eye.

In this miraculous state, Taiga made short work of everyone who hindered his way as he charged to the arena.

Around ten minutes and about five dozen bodies after he left the control room, Kashi burst through the arena’s doors.

BOOM!

The sight that greeted him forced him to a hard halt. His right leg stomped heavily against the ground as he stared agape at the metallic hand coming out of a certain scientist’s back.

A still-beating organ Taiga recognized all too well rested in the palms of that hand. His body tensed as the hand squeezed shut, obliterating that organ, and then withdrew from the scientist’s body, leaving a large hole where the heart once was.

The scientist fell backward onto his back, snake eyes staring incredulously at the clouds, the confusion over his untimely demise evident in the widened, shock-filled eyes and lips which were still widely spread in a victory grin.

Taiga looked from Saika’s corpse to the owner of that metallic hand. Swallowing hard, he questioned, “What are you doing?”

The combat suit’s helmet receded, revealing a beautiful girl with a smile that could conquer countries. Sadly, the scientists cut her hair in preparation for the surgery, but even that did nothing to detract from her stunning smile. “You’re finally here, Taiga!” Henri laughed as she saw her lover. “Took you long enough.” She grinned as she inspected his bloody visage. “Looks like you already beat us to it. Hehe, as expected of the Hadet reaper. So efficient…”